*VO2max calculation was determined from the published tables in Ramsbottom et al. (1988) "A progressive shuttle run test to estimate maximal oxygen uptake." British Journal of Sports Medicine 22: 141-5 using calculator at http://www.topendsports.com/testing/beepcalc.htm

The Bleep Test

The Bleep Test is sometimes known as the Beep Test or Multistage Fitness Test. It is a well defined test used across the world and across different sports to objectively measure endurance fitness. The test starts The test consists of two lines which the athelete has to run between before a "bleep" on a tape goes off. The speed increases with each level until the athelete cannot keep up with the bleeps. It starts at 8.5 km/h and increases by 0.5 km/h each level until it reaches 19.5 km/h at level 23. The entire 23 levels represents a distance of 5400.

What does VO2max Mean?

Exercise physiologists define VO2 max as the maximum volume of oxygen that by the body can consume during intense, whole-body exercise, while breathing air at sea level. This volume is expressed as a rate, millilitres per kg bodyweight per minute (ml/kg/min). It is a measure of your capacity to generate the energy required for endurance activities such as football and is one of the most important factors determining your ability to exercise for longer than four to five minutes. In research the maximum distance that a player can and or does cover in a football match was found to be heavily correlated to their VO2max result.

Improving your VO2 max by 10 percent without changing any other performance factors can take more than a minute off your 5k time, and is an essential factor for all endurance sports including Football. Your sedentary VO2 max values are genetically determined. However, all individuals can make drastic improvements in VO2 max with the right training stimulus. Thus, to attain your best possible performances, VO2 max improvement is one aspect of your training that should not be ignored.

What is an ideal VO2 max score?

The key thing is to get better look at this link to see if you improved from last year. In terms of bechmarks world class male runners, cyclist and cross-country skiers typically exceed VO2 max of 70 ml/kg/min and a rare few may exceed 90 ml/kg/min. The highest VO2 max value ever recorded, 93 ml/kg/min, was from a Scandinavian cross country skier. As you can see from the table below showing ideal VO2max scores for various sports we as footballers are aiming at a mere 60-65 ml/kg/min

Source http://www.brianmac.demon.co.uk/vo2max.htm

A few key results out there on record and in scientific literature.

• Professional referees and assistant referees are required to be able to make 11.2 and 11.0 respectively on the bleep test.
• Casey Stone Charlton Captain and England Ladies World Cup team recorded 13.0 in June of this year
• Values for Elite players lie in the 55-70 ml/kg/min region with the mean value of 500 UK professional players in 2003 being 59 ml/kg/min
• Players falling below 60 ml/kg/min may fail to perform well consistently at the highest level of professional play.
• German 1981 World Cup Squad 67.0 (±4.5) ml/kg/min
• 1st Division Spanish League (2001) 66.4 (±7.6) ml/kg/min
• Elite Norwegian Players (1998) 67.67 (±4.0) ml/kg/min
• Norwegian division 1-3 (1997) 62.8 (±4.1) ml/kg/min
• An English Premiere League Squad (2002) 59.4 (±6.2) ml/kg/min
• Derby County FC Squad (2005) 62.1 (±5.0) ml/kg/min
• The maximum bleep test level is Level 23.16. This is equivalent to 95 ml/kg/min. Rumours persist that some footballers have completed all 23 levels of the bleep test. This is unlikely to be true given the statement at the top of this section.

Below are the generally accepted norms for the male population. Plot yourself on the graph and see how well you did.

Source: http://www.aerobictest.com/FitnessNorms.htm